неделя, 11 ноември 2012 г.

Music for Theatre (2010-2012)

I've been considering this post for so long and finally I got the time to do it. I selected few highlights from my work in the endless field of theatre music, and here we go. The last three years I've been collaborating with Tsvetelina Stoyanova - TSV, a young Bulgarian director and actor, specialized in alternative & multimedia theatre. My first encounter with her work was in 2010, during her solo play 'Tuberculosis'. I was amazed by her presence on stage, by her scenography and by her intelligent use of digital technologies in such an ancient art as theatre. The strong social message that was implied in the play was also a reason that got me into the idea of working with her in the future. For the music I created for her I had total freedom, although at certain points I'd been given directions, ideas, concepts and whatever was coming out during the rehearsal process. My work in these three plays is basically a mixture of ambient / drone soundscapes, field recordings, spoken word and sound design. I've made excerpts that are representing the three soundtracks. They sound similar as the plays for me are following a common and a very unique concept and style. And now some history.

"Оранжерията" / 'The Glasshouse' (2010)

"Оранжерията" / 'The Glasshouse' (2010)

The play depicts life as a trap for the human soul, a sealed box in which our souls are put after its birth. A box, in which we are doomed to exist, a symbol of a life which we only appreciate when facing a terminal disease or the death itself. The script was written by TSV and is based on the original Helmut Peschina play, as well as on works by Herman Hesse, Jean-Paul Sartre and Rabindranath Tagore. The project struggles to wake the spiritual charge in the individual, vegetating in the somatic embrace of the 'greenhouse-body'. The play questions issues as sexism, homophobia, cultural and social norms, materialism etc.

As this was my first interaction with theatre, and especially in its quite alternative form (with multimedia, live camera and specific scenography) I was quite enthusiastic. I regularly attended rehearsals, felt the spirit of the play and this was my main inspiration. Sadly this play is not currently on stage, but I strongly hope it will be revived at a point. My soundscapes were not the only music used, there were also excerpts from classical pieces and contemporary ones."Оранжерията" / 'The Greenhouse' (2010) OST (excerpt) by Mytrip

What happens when you choose to live in a virtual reality? How topics as suicide, loneliness, boredom, love and the meaning of our existence are distorted in the synthetic computer world? Isn't the real person a better choice? How can unexpected meeting in a chat-room can turn into the friendship of your life through the shared idea to committing a suicide?

These are some of the questions posed to the viewer in this play. Again an immense audio-visual work incorporated in theatre. This time a smaller cast, but the same strong social message and meaning. The music I created has a similar taste, but I was a bit more focused on getting closer to sound-design. The play is struggling to stay on stage and hopefully TSV will manage to keep performing it in Sofia. Besides my works few other pieces by various artists were used, below is an extract from my soundscapes. "Трябва да се живее" / 'The Show Must Go On' (2011) OST (excerpt) by Mytrip

The latest product of my collaboration with TSV is called 'Alcohol'. This is a
biographical play based on the novel by Kalin Terziiski and Diana
Dragoeva. In my personal view this is the heaviest play she has ever made. It is complex as content, and complex for it is heavily filled with multimedia, sound, text, acting, message and atmosphere. So far it has been receiving great feedback from those who are willing to experiment with their taste for theatre. The interest from both the media and
audience has been quite impressive and I sincerely hope this will remain the same way in the
future. The topics here are again quite social, the main thread is alcoholism and addiction through the eyes of the individual struggling to fight it. My work is dark, creepy and escalates with the development of the play. It is again a mixture of ambient soundscapes, field recordings and a lot of recorded spoken word. As it is a biographical play, so if you see this live, besides my music you will hear a lot of popular tracks, which are connected to the time period depicted by the author. Hear a sample below. "Алкохол" / 'Alcohol' (2012) OST (excerpt) by Mytrip

It hasn't been too much of reading, ha? However, theatre is certainly a field I'd like to keep exploring in the future, especially in its most alternative and experimental forms. This year I took part in a live improvisation which was accompanying a piece of contemporary performance and I found it quite enjoyable. Movies are a challenging field too, but the freedom I found in theatre is still unsurpassed.